I eagerly awaited the next Anglicon, so much that I bought cheaper advanced tickets not too long after the initial "regeneration" of the first Anglicon. I had hoped to have a new costume be made for the occasion, but lack of money meant I relied on the usual: my popular 2nd Doctor costume. In additon I had enough clothes gathered for an 11th Doctor costume, which I wore on Sunday. As for my son, he had his Jamie McCrimmon outfit that still fit, and would turn out to be a favorite at the convention. More on that later. This year's Anglicon was scheduled at a conflicting time in the summer. Anime Revolution, held in Vancouver, Canada was the same weekend, so we had to decide which to attend. In the end we went with Anglicon, since we didn't have to spend what little money we had on a hotel since it was a local con.

 

We arrived a little late on Friday, but that's all right as things don't really take off at the con until late in the afternoon anyway on the first day as I experienced last year. It took place once again at the Doubletree Hotel by the Airport, a comfortable place where convention folks can hang out with the people waiting for their plane to depart, including airline stewardesses from other countries. The layout for the convention was pretty much the same with a few changes. Last year the main stage was split with the autograph/photo room, which was also the Dalek room, that is where fanmade full-size Daleks could get a tune up and wander around for photo ops or improv comedy. This year the the photo room was moved to a panel room on the other side of the convention area where you pass the courtyard on the left. Here in one area was the autograph and photo line, and in the other area was actually a Dalek lab/display area, where up to 3 working Daleks used as their bass and also stationary parts of a Dalek were on display as well. Some of the creators were on hand to show you how things work such as the metallic Dalek voice microphone and modulator, and laser sound effects. You could even do your best Dalek voice through the special microphone and fire the laser as well for fun. My son was in tow along with the wife and he took an instant liking to the Daleks, who took a liking to him. Even after we left the Dalek room he kept wanting to go back there.

 

What the guest lineup lacked in any Doctors made up for with other memorable talents from the series as well as non DW shows. Probably the most noticable from the Whoniverse was Dan Starkey aka Strax the Sontaran who always talks about the "puny humans!" Even without all the makeup and prosthetics, you can see Strax just from his considerable and distinguished grin. Dan wasted no time to play up to the fans doing his Strax persona. Annette Badland was also a familiar face to Who fans as one the head Slitheen in the "Aliens of London" episode but also from favorite British series such as East Enders and Coronation Street. Terry Molloy is a "classic" DW guest as he played Davros during the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctor serials. He was seen wandering around con wearing a kilt. And aside from Doctor Who there was also a guest from the famed series Red Dwarf. Norman Lovett played the much loved computer interface Holly in the first 2 series as well as the 7th and 8th.

 

We only spent a few hours at con on Friday, but the usual low key first day of con meant we could take breaks, wander around, take photos and maybe pop in a panel for a short time anyway. The panel schedule seemed to have expanded from last year as there were a lot more interesting things that I would like see and do. Want to learn about David Tennant, James Bond music, play TV game shows or learn about the history of the Cybermen. It was all there at Anglicon! They even had a Karaoke room on Friday night, though sadly I had to leave before it started, because I had a previous engagement with the TV at home: The Olympic opening ceremony was on at the same time, which I never miss, so that was a priority. At the same time, I originally had planned a Olympic party that night before I learned of the Anglicon dates. But I came up with the idea of going to Anglicon up until 6pm, and then head to my mom's house to watch the ceremonies, so I got the best of both worlds.

 

Saturday I set out on my own, as the wife had a different event to attend and took the son with her. This gave me an opportunity to get more cosplay photos and take a good look at everything. I saw a few panels featuring the guests, which included annette badland, whose interview was conducted similar to the Actors Studio standard questions, like "what turns you on?" and Ms. Badland would reply "Al Pacino!" Mr. Strax himself Dan Starkey talked about having to put on that big Sontaran headpiece each time for DW. He shared a panel with Terry Malloy who also talked about the difficulties in performing in extensive makeup and costumes, that being Davros, and how difficult it was to see and react to the other actors. "I'm a prop" said Starkey as he also had trouble seeing, had a fan built inside of his fake head and had to be poked when it was time to speak a line! But the most interesting guest panel was with a guest that wasn't there. Confused? What I mean is Robert Lewellyn. He was originally to be a guest this year but had to back out due to conflicts with his schedule. Fortunately Anglicon worked it out so he could still hold a panel via Skype, and we could see him on screen and speak with him. I've seen problems trying to do this before with Skype, but this was pretty successful, but I think Robert was a bit too close to the camera so we could only see the top part of his head on screen for most of the interview. Norman Lovett helped host the interview, and fans were able to go up to the pc camera to say hi to Robert and ask a question. Basically Robert said he really had fun playing Kryten and other characters in Red Dwarf. I'm me and the fans got to see him in some way, shape or form.

 

Before my wife arrived with the son, I hung out at the Monty Python sing-along panel. This was set up so you watch a music video or a MP movie or tv clip of a famous song with on-screen lyrics, and sing with it. This was a family friendly convention so the more racier songs were left out. But you still got to sing some of your favorites like "the money song," "Every sperm is sacred," "Spam," "Camelot," "Universe song," and of course "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." This was a lot of fun to be with other Monty Python fans and laugh at your favorite clips and sing all the songs together. As it concluded my family arrived and so we wandered around a bit. I should mention the refreshment room provided by Anglicon, where you can free snacks and tea and just sit down and take a break from the con. It's also in a quiet area of the hotel so there's no noise. I unfortunately didn't get to the Tea Luncheon like I did last year, but I managed to get a free tote from KBTC so that was a consolidation. We had a another major event to attend.

 

We signed up our son to be in the kids portion of the cosplay contest. I'm always amazed and happy to see many kids come out and cosplay from Doctor Who (mainly). It's so great because their parents loved to watch DW and get their kids into it, or perhaps they have friends that have shown them the series. In any case it's wonderful and welcome sight. Our first objective was to get James signed up. Then we showed up to the stage and be told what to do, where to go and how to act onstage. Once we do that we line up or take a seat in a designated area. Actually that was the beginning of a confusing time, because people were lining up and we weren't told to do so. Eventually the kids were all lined up backstage to get ready. Then there was a long delay, first because the coordinator was thinking they were missing a contestant, but it was actually someone who dropped out, so they delayed the show for no apparent reason. And so we waited and waited longer, and if you know a thing or two about 1/1/2 year olds, they want to be doing something and not standing around in the same place. My son began to get very bored and frustrated, and got tired of eating snacks. Fortunately the other kids smothered him with affection and shared their toy Sonic Screwdriver with him which he got very attached too. In fact when I tried to give the toys back he got upset. Also, him catching a cold didn't help things much either. The kids playing with him were the saving grace, and to reward them I gave them Jelly Babies to eat which I had on hand. Finally the contest started, and it was soon our turn to go onstage after they announced Jamie's name and character. Unfortunately for whatever reason they had incorrect information--someone elses entry info. So we just told the announcer at the time, then everything went well. James was a hit and he was given an award for Cutest cosplay--his first cosplay ribbon ever! He and the other winners also received a bag of Jelly Babies as well. The other kids also had some great costumes: 11th Doctor, 4th Doctor, Amelia Pond as a little girl "who waited," and many others. I just wish the contest was better organized, so that's something they were going to have to work on for next time. Kids can't wait that long!

 

The adult contest actually ran must faster, and again there were some great costumes on display. There was a great River Song in an Astronaut suit, an awesome Cyberman, some Dalek and TARDIS dresses, Captain Jack Harkness, a 12th doctor, Susan Foreman who was done up in Black and white clothes and makeup and a whole flock of TARDISes dancing around on stage. My favorite was an 11th Doctor and Clara who were the cutest couple, one that appeared last year at the dance and doing very well. Despite the tedious delay, it was another good contest. We quickly rushed the boy home to grandma's as he soon fell asleep during the Olympic ceremonies...

 

Sunday as it usually is at 3 day con, is a relax day. I put together a 11th Doctor outfit, and me and the family just wandered around the con taking photos, getting our photos taken, with my son stealing the show. We popped into another Dan Starkey panel and he talked about working with Matt Smith and meeting Tom Baker, doing a decent impression of his voice. He also of course did his Strax voice for the fans, improvising some humorous lines. We met up with some of the same kids that kept my son's spirits up at the contest, thanking them again. I hope they didn't ever catch his cold, since he played with their sonic screwdrivers. Before we knew it we were at the closing ceremonies saying goodbye to everyone and the special guests. They announced some winners of the contests, and had people who attended a plushie making workshop show off their final results onstage-this included adults and kids. At the end they brought out the guests--exiting the onstage TARDIS prop featured throughout the convention--one more time to say goodbye, or rather "Huzzah!" Strax added a "Sontaran huzzah!" at the end. The staff mentioned the guests are always welcome to come to Anglicon anytime, though not necessarily pay for their airfare. The guests had a "well..." expression on their face. Staff made a final announcement about a new date for next year's Anglicon, which will be in early December!

 

So that was Anglicon in 2016, and I'll say I had a good time at my second one. It's amazing they get some cool guest for a rather small con. I still say it's a little pricey for a con this size, but if you get your tickets in advance, the discount price might be worth it. I've had some difficult financial times now and again, so this is one of the factor for me being "cheap" if you will. I'm a little tired of anime conventions, and look forward to more multi fandom ones, or a particular group of fandoms such as Anglicon. I feel I get more out of them nowadays, pleasure, satisfaction, my money's worth, and of course fun. The con is what you make it though, but it helps if you have a nice place that isn't overcrowded and people welcome you and think your costume is cool even though there isn't much to it. That's how I feel at Anglicon, it's a nice feeling. So I think I'll keep going.